Will Zalatoris will miss the entire 2027 PGA Tour season. The 30-year-old said Wednesday at media day for the Austin Championship that he will have spinal fusion surgery in Dallas at the end of November.
He’ll tee it up one more time before the procedure. Zalatoris plans to play the Austin Championship at Omni Barton Creek Resort on Nov. 12-15.
“I’ve been through four years of hell so it’s good to have something that will hopefully correct it,” Zalatoris said. “It’s not something you want to do, but when you have three Tour physical therapists tell you it needs to be done at some time, you go ahead and do it.”
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This will be his third major back surgery since 2023. He had a microdiscectomy in April 2023 and surgery on two herniated discs in May 2025. Zalatoris said the upcoming procedure is similar to the one Tiger Woods had, but with a different surgeon.
“It’s all connected together and I just want to get it fixed,” he said. “I can’t promise anybody anything because of what I’ve been through. I’m the oldest 30-year-old you will ever meet.”
Zalatoris made four PGA Tour starts in 2026. He said he reinjured his back at the Valero Texas Open in April, when he tried to play 27 holes in cool weather. He finished T67 that week and missed the rest of the season, which included a torn right hip labrum.
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He has played a dozen or fewer events in three of the past four years. He has dropped to No. 610 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Zalatoris was the 2021 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. He won the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship in a playoff and has runner-up finishes at the Masters and PGA Championship. During one stretch, he finished in the top 10 in six of seven majors and climbed to No. 7 in the world.
“I’ve been in contact with the Tour, which has been great,” he said. “It looks like I can come back in 2028 and play in the Challenger Series if everything works like it should.”
The Challenger Series will serve as the PGA Tour’s second tier beginning in 2028.
